Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Beyond the Gates (2016)

After taking a break from some movies last night, I decided to kick into high gear tonight. Right now, I am in the middle of Phoenix Forgotten (which is interesting). Earlier, I sat back and watched the 2016 throwback Beyond the Gates.

Plot/ Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father's video store and find a VCR board game dubbed 'Beyond The Gates' that holds a connection to their father's disappearance.

When I sat down t watch this one, I had no idea what to expect, but with this movie being a throwback of sorts to my youth, I was excited. What I found was indeed a low budget homage to early 1980s horror, although it did not inspire me as much as some of those films did back then. While this one is not terrible, it does have its flaws including poorly paced dialog, a slow building story that is overly tedious, uneven performances, and some flat characters. Yes, there were some fun elements; the effects (considering the budget) were interesting and the idea had potential. Unfortunately, those positive moments did not offset the execution problems. In the end, this one could have been much better and even more entertaining. Is it terrible? No, but it will likely be met with a polarizing response and disappoint many hardcore horror fans.